Today was another beautiful day with plenty of sunshine and light wind. I had a great time this morning skiing on Sterling. Smugglers’ Alley was groomed last night and it sure was fun to make some big turns on a nice smooth surface. I also had a bunch of fun playing in the trees. I hiked out to one of favorite places and I had to take a photo of Sterling Pond with Mount Mansfield in the background. I headed down to Morse Mountain in the afternoon in catch the last World Famous Cookie Race of the season. I could not believe how the skiers were carving turns around the gates and the snowboarders were catching air off the jumps. Everyone was soaking up the beautiful sunshine and loving the warmer temperatures. Mogul Mouse was at the finish of the race giving out high fives to the skiers and riders as they went by. The kids were also pretty excited to get a cookie. I’m pretty excited about the forecast of a snow storm heading this way. The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warnings and advisories calling for up to 14 inches of new snow by Saturday night. The snow is expected to start tomorrow with the majority of snowfall occurring Friday night. The snow will continue into Saturday also. Tomorrow we plan to have top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 4 lifts operating, including the Madonna 1 lift. We have 57 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. 37 trails will be groomed for tomorrow, including Upper FIS, Smugglers’ Alley, and Snow Snake for a grand total of 130 acres of freshly groomed terrain.

Sterling Pond with Mount Mansfield in the background.

Snow Sport University Instructor Oliver Blackman with his class enjoying the beautiful day.

The sunrise service was fantastic this morning with clear skies, no wind, and mild temperatures. We had a great turn out with 264 people attending. It was just so pretty with the moon over Mount Mansfield. The sun worked its magic and there was corn snow everywhere. Spring fever is here and it is contagious! I had so much fun today with my son Hugh B, daughter Hayleigh, my wife Harley, and good friends Lindsey, Kiri, and Nancy. We did an on mountain Easter Egg Hunt. The kids kept finding plastic colored eggs filled with candy on the side of the trail.

Airing it out on Upper Exhibition

For Monday we plan to have top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 5 lifts operating, including the Madonna I Lift and 35 trails open. 27 trails will be groomed for tomorrow, that’s 138 acres. The forecast for tomorrow is rain with temperatures between 38 and 45 degrees. The rain is supposed to turn to snow on Monday night and we could see up to 5 inches of accumulation on top by Tuesday night.

The day started off with cloudy skies, except for the top of Madonna Mountain and Mount Mansfield. I want to thank my good friend and Smuggs employee Jeremy Corkins for sending me this great picture of Mount Mansfield seen from Madonna Mountain. I love it when the peaks of mountains look like islands and the clouds are the ocean. It was a great day to be out on the mountains today. I was lucky enough to spend it with family and great friends. We had so much fun taking in the amazing views from the chair lifts and playing in all the corn snow.

Tomorrow is going to be a repeat of today and I can’t wait. We have top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 7 lifts operating and 37 trails open. 29 trails will be groomed for tomorrow, that’s 147 acres. Tomorrow’s forecast is calling for mostly sunny skies with temperatures between 37 and 48 degrees. Easter Sunrise Service is tomorrow morning. The Sterling Lift will be operating from 6:00 am till 6:30 am.

We received 16 inches of new snow in the past week and the conditions have been fantastic. It was a beautiful blue bird day. I have been trying to get this photo for a while now. I have been able to get Sterling and Mount Mansfield in the frame, but I was not able to also get Madonna in the frame. I had to climb up a couple of trees to get a clear view of all mountains. I find that Madonna and Sterling look different from this angle.

Hugh Johnson

Hello skiers and riders! Thanks for checking out my blog. I've been skiing Smuggs since I was a young 'un, when my family moved to Vermont and made the resort a temporary home base. Full circle — now I'm introducing my own family to the mountain! Each day you'll find an entry and photo on mountain conditions and happenings, highlighting the great terrain we have spread over three mountains and the awesome adventures that skiers and riders of all ages can have out there! You'll also hear from Rockin' Ron Carter a couple days during the week. Maybe you'll spot him on his favorite run — Pirate's Plank on Sterling Mountain. We'll be out there on the slopes, and hope to see you — thanks for skiing and riding Smuggs!